Biographical sources

Biographical profiles of varying length have been published in the accountancy press for chartered accountants and other significant figures in the profession. Some of these profiles have been indexed in the Accountancy Ancestors database.

The Library and Information Service have also written biographical articles of accountants and related people, ranging from wartime heroes to pioneering women and artists whose work is on display in Chartered Accountants' Hall.

• See the full A-Z of biographies

The collection of the ICAEW Library & Information Service holds a number of autobiographies of chartered accountants that provide an insight into the profession throughout the years, covering everything from the description of working in practice in the late 1890s (see Before I forget, 1894-1954 by W A Wolley) to the experiences of working for an accountancy firm in pre-revolutionary Russia (see Russian Interlude by J Kilpatrick).

Most of the autobiographies and biographies in our collection are rare and are only available for reference in the Library. You can view the full listing of biographies in our collection through the Library catalogue.

The extracts below provide an illustration of the fascinating lives captured in our collection.

A Sporting Chartered Accountant by Alfred Good, Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, London, 1917.

Although liberally interspersed with stories of his fishing, shooting and riding experiences, Alfred Good's book A Sporting Chartered Accountant is set within the context of his business, home and travelling life.

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Gérard became an ACA in 1880 and his book describes his travels, working life and some of the personalities he met along the way.

In Reminiscences Gérard Van de Linde looks back on his life from 1917 recalling the personalities, travels and business that formed a significant part of his life from 1840 to 1917.

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The escape of Sir Harold Gibson Howitt (ICAEW President 1945–46) from behind German lines in 1918 was immortalised in the John Buchan novel ‘Mr. Standfast’ (1919). Find out how this event was captured in the novel and in Sir Harold Gibson Howitt's later autobiography.

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James Kilpatrick's book ‘Russian Interlude’ records his experiences working for Deloitte in pre-revolutionary Russia against a background of rising political tension.

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In Before I forget W A Wolley describes his experiences in accountancy between 1894 and 1954. The author joined Wm. Arthur Smith & Co on 1 August 1894 after his father ‘heard that an office boy was wanted in the office of a Chartered Accountant’.

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The accountancy press has published interviews with significant figures in the accountancy profession. Some interviews have been indexed in the Library's online catalogue, whilst others can be identified using research databases that are available in the Library.

Obituaries of varying length have been published in the accountancy press for chartered accountants and other significant figures in the profession, ranging from articled clerks to presidents. Some of these obituaries have been indexed in the Accountancy Ancestors database.